Under the Sea

Since the last post, Tiffany and I caught the Netherlands vs Uruguay game at a bar on Florida Street in Durbs, making friends with some locals who were appalled at some of the places the guide book led us too, particularly Victoria Market, where I saw piles of goat heads complete with blood. No, I didn't take a picture. We did eat bunny chow at a small Indian restaurant in Durban on Florida Street.

Ducky with bunny chow. Not utensils required!

Because we had trouble finding a place to stay Wednesday night (due to the semi-final game coming to town), we booked a place 4hrs up the coast and rented a car. Yes, the female asian tourists are driving now. We booked the last automatic car and drove to Sodwana Bay, within the iSimilango (sp?) Wetland Park. The drive was beautiful and scenic, taking us past smaller, rural towns and wheat fields, occasionally the sea. We stayed a Triton Divers, a dive charter plus accommodations that was literally off the beaten path! The place is like staying at camp, with thatched roofs, outdoor showers and toilets, and wooden walkways between the cabins. We tested our rental car by taking it on a one lane sand road to get to the place.

After checking in and nothing to do around the camp site, we drove to Mkuze, a game reserve famous for hippos and rhinos. Having been told it was half the distance it actually was, we arrived after some anxiety and debate of how to get there around 4pm. Since it closed at nightfall, we had about two hours to see the park. Luckily, after oohing and ahhing over some impala and elands, and a near-death experience as Tiff almost drove off the road as she was scanning the brush for animals, we spotted a black rhino not 10 yards away, and it was walking towards us! Stealthily, we reversed into its path. And now the rhino was 15 feet away. Holy Crap. I whispered to Tiff, if it charges, we gun it. It got spooked a bit by our car (I hear they're known to have poor eyesight) and started running across the road, giving us a great view of its rhino-butt. For a second, it stops and turns, giving us a perfect rhino pose. Sweet!

Closest safari encounter with a black rhino ever.

We took a Loop Drive around, spotting hundreds of impala or other deer-like animals, a lone giraffe, and two wildebeest. Sadly no hippos, but the rhino encounter was totally worth the drive. As night falls, we stop searching for animals and instead look for the signs for the exit. Night safaris were not what we signed up for. Some large deer (Gemsbock?) and a hyena might have been spotted, but it was too dark to tell.

We head back for the lodge and drive out again (from the one lane sand road, thank goodness it's a rental!) to find a TV (our granola accommodations doesn't have one). At the local bar (Maak n Jol), we stumble in to find a projection of the game and some beers. Perfect!

We woke up early to hit the water on Thursday the 8th. From Sodwana Bay, we got our gear on and rubber-duckied out to the drop spot, Two-Mile Reef. It was amazing and nothing I can say will ever capture the experience. It was like diving in an aquarium or coming across the opening reef scene in Finding Nemo and I wish I had a camera! Best visibility, beautiful coral garden, schools of brightly colored fish. Conversations between Tiff and our dive master would go "Did you see the potato fish, soldiers, goldies, butterflies, and ...etc". On the other hand, like a 5 year old, I would say, "Did you see the blue and yellow ones? Cool!" or "I liked that pretty white and purple one". Unlike my other diving experiences, this one was so FULL of fish, giant clams that would clam up (hehe!) as we passed, or large red corals that shot into their shells. Oh and there were anemones, waving in the current, with clown fish rubbing themselves in their soft, jelly tentacles. I do believe Dory was also there. After 45 min underwater, we went up, hit the showers and hit the road back to Durban.